Johannesburg - If given the choice, one suspects that Brad Binder would have swapped his sprint race triumph on Saturday for a successful outing at the Argentine Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 27-year-old stormed to a brilliant first-place on Saturday in the sprint race at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo in the northern Argentinian province of Santiago del Estero. Unfortunately, Binder never really got the chance to emulate the feat in the MotoGP on Sunday.
A first lap incident on a wet track saw Maverick Vinales dive inside the Red Bull KTM rider at turn 5, clipping Binder, who subsequently skid out of points contention. Binder would eventually finish last in 17th place, nearly 50 seconds behind eventual winner Marco Bezzecchi.
A first lap incident on a wet track saw Maverick Vinales dive inside the Red Bull KTM rider at turn five, clipping Binder, who subsequently skidded out of points contention. Binder would eventually finished last in 17th place, nearly 50 seconds behind eventual winner Marco Bezzecchi.
After the race, Binder could not hide his disappointment.
“I was quite excited to have a wet race; it’s been quite a while since we had one,” he said.
“I felt pretty good. Unfortunately, at the end of the back straight I had a bit of a connection with someone and the back-end spun around on me.
“I picked up and restarted and then just tried to ride. If there had been a red flag or some other incident, then I would have had another chance.
“Anyway, we finished the race. It was really tough and super-long.
“Overall, it was a good weekend with the win (on Saturday), I’m looking forward to starting again in America.”
Despite his luckless Sunday, Binder did manage to collect a healthy bounty of 12 points on Saturday, in spite of starting 15th on the grid.
The South African should take a lot of confidence from that performance – an outing that should occupy a healthy space in his thoughts as he continues the season.
Said Binder of that specific success: “I surprised myself a little bit – what a start.
“I got super-tight in turn one, held the inside line, and then just picked them off one at a time. I thought if I could go to the front and fight like hell, then maybe I could stay there, and the plan worked.
“I could hear the boys behind me at the end but brought it home. Thanks to my team; the step from (Friday) was unreal.
“The bike was fantastic and I look forward to see how we can manage tomorrow.”
Darryn Binder, meanwhile, scored his first points in Moto2 by finishing sixth in his race. The Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact team rider collected 10 points and he know sits 12th in the championship standings as the second-best rookie in the division.
Saturday but not Sunday Specialist! ☹️ @BradBinder_33's double hopes ended up on the gravel of Turn 5 after contact with Viñales! 💢 #ArgentinaGP 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/mPsIRpnGwt
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) April 2, 2023
OH MAMA! @BradBinder_33 WINS THE SPRINT IN ARGENTINA! 🚀
— Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) April 1, 2023
1️⃣5️⃣th to 1️⃣st!! WHAT A RACE! 💪 #KTM #ReadyToRace #ArgentinaGP 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/6RRwEaNcZh
The next race weekend is the Grand Prix of the Americas on April 16.
@FreemanZAR